In 1903, Nikola Tesla engineered a type of steam turbine, for which he was granted U.S. Pat. No. 1,061,142 on May 6, 1913, and U.S. Pat. No. 1,061,206 on May 6, 1913, the teachings of which are incorporated herein in their entirety. This type of turbine is commonly referred to as a continuous combustion turbine or a boundary layer turbine. FIGS. 1a and 1b illustrate a conventional, continuous combustion turbine. Continuous combustion turbines generally can perform two very different functions. In one arrangement, the turbine can serve as a motor, powering an external device. In another arrangement, the turbine can be used as a pump.
The principles for operation of the typical continuous combustion turbine illustrated in FIGS. 1a and 1b are well documented and should be known to one skilled in the art. Briefly, a continuous combustion turbine operating as a motor generally consists of a serial connection of a compressor element (not shown) and a motor element 19. Motor element 19 includes a plurality of parallel discs 13, which are mounted to a central drive shaft 16 through mounting brackets 15. Motor element 19 also typically includes an inlet port 25 and an outlet port 20.
As the compressor element compresses a gas or fluid, the compressed gas or fluid is forced into motor element 19 through inlet port 25. The inlet port is generally configured such that the compressed gas or fluid strikes discs 13 substantially tangential to the circumference of the discs. Through adhesion, the compressed gas or fluid causes the discs to rotate as the compressed gas or fluid works its way to outlet ports 20 via holes 14 in discs 13. As described above, drive shaft 16 is connected to discs 13 through mounting bracket 15, and drive shaft 16 rotates with discs 13, thereby providing motive power to a device mounted to drive shaft 16 outside of motor element 19. Drive shaft 16 also serves to support discs 13 within motor element 19.
In typical continuous combustion engines, the engine can be operated in reverse simply by causing the compressed gas or fluid to strike the discs 13 on the opposite side. For example, in FIG. 1a, if the compressed gas or fluid entered motor element 19 through the left-hand inlet port 25, discs 13 would rotate in a counter-clockwise manner. However, if the compressed gas or fluid entered chamber 19 through the right-hand inlet port 25, discs 13 would rotate in a clockwise manner.
The continuous combustion turbine can also be used as a pump. Rotating drive shaft 16 causes discs 13 to rotate. If a fluid or gas is present in housing 19, discs 13 can cause the fluid to be pulled from outlet 14, and ejected at a higher pressure via inlet 28.
Continuous combustion turbines are advantageous over other, more traditional fluid-based turbines because the motive force is supplied without the need for fans or other such devices. Fans, for example, are subject to significant stress as the fluid impacts the fan blades. This can lead to damage of the blades, and can result in the introduction of foreign matter into the fluid. In a closed-loop system, the foreign matter may be repeatedly injected into the engine compartment at high speed, and this can quickly result in catastrophic damage to both the blades and the engine itself.
Some in the prior art have adapted the basic Tesla boundary layer turbine design for specific uses. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,503,067, to Palumbo, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety, discloses a bladeless multi-disc turbocharger for use with an internal combustion engine. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,375,412, to Dial, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety, discloses a multi-disc impeller for pumps, turbines, and the like. While these references have applied and made minor modifications to the basic Tesla design, these adaptations have made only minor advancements in the art.